The present invention relates to devices for harvesting plant stems sown in rows, in particular for a corn or maize ensilaging machine, in which at least one gatherer having two dividers comprises a cutting mechanism and two advancing devices provided in the respective dividers for the transfer of the cut stalks to a treating apparatus, the advancing devices comprising two parallel shafts which are forwardly and upwardly inclined, the respective front shafts of the advancing devices carrying at their lower end two rotary cutters contained in the same plane and rotating in opposite directions. The treating apparatus may be a thresher for shelling or a cutting rotor for chopping the harvest for a subsequent ensilage.
A device of this type, described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,600,836, has the drawback that the cutters have a horizontal disposition and consequently require a drive through universal joints. Moreover, it imperfectly holds the severed stalks in the course of their transfer so that certain stalks are not taken up in the machine and are abandoned on the ground.